Taiwanese student’s independence sticker on passport condemned as “trick”

A Taiwan woman who attached a sticker to her passport suggesting “Taiwan independence” was fiercely slammed by mainlanders, as experts noted that such “tricks” would end nowhere.

The woman covered her passport with a sticker reading “Republic of Taiwan” over the original “Republic of China,” according to a photo posted by the student on Taiwan- based PTT forum.

When she arrived at the Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japanese customs officer granted her access without asking her to remove the sticker.

“I have been using the passport [ with the sticker] for two years, during which I had entered and exited Japan for five times without being obstructed,” the woman said on Tuesday, adding that she entered Japan earlier this week to start her one- year overseas study there.

“The sticker was a trick of ‘ Taiwan independence’ forces that was not supported by the Taiwan government,” Liu Xiangping, head of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Nanjing University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Liu warned that although Taiwan leader Tsai Ing- wen never expressed her support to acts like the sticker, her ambiguous attitude in recognizing the 1992 Consensus, which endorses the one- China principle, had in fact indulged “Taiwan independence” forces.

“Tsai should take effective actions as soon as possible. It is the Taiwan government’s responsibility to solve the problem of ‘ Taiwan independence’ and improve the cross- Straits relationship,” Liu noted.

Liu also warned against the warming relationship between the island and Japan. He said that Japan “is seeking to use the Taiwan question, together with the South China Sea and East China Sea issues, to contain China.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Monday said at a daily briefing that China firmly opposed a Japanese senior official’s visit to Taiwan and had lodged serious representations with Japan.

Hua made the comment after the Japanese Senior Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Jiro Akama visited Taiwan on Saturday to attend an event promoting Japan’s culture held by the Japan- Taiwan Exchange Association.

Akama was reportedly the highestlevel Japanese official to visit the island since 1972.